This talk is being held as part of the Practice of Evidence-Based Health Care module which is a compulsory module for the MSc in Evidence-Based Health Care. Members of the public are welcome to attend.

Trish Greenhalgh is an internationally recognised academic in primary health care and a practising GP. She leads a programme of research at the interface between social sciences and medicine, with strong emphasis on the organisation and delivery of health services. Her research seeks to celebrate and retain the traditional and humanistic aspects of medicine while also embracing the unparalleled opportunities of contemporary science and technology to improve health outcomes and relieve suffering. Her past research has covered the evaluation and improvement of clinical services at the primary-secondary care interface, particularly the use of narrative methods to illuminate the illness experience in ‘hard to reach’ groups; the challenges of implementing evidence-based practice (including the study of knowledge translation and research impact); the adoption and use of new technologies (including electronic patient records and assisted living technologies) by both clinicians and patients; and the application of philosophy to clinical practice.

This presentation is based on an article published in the British Medical Journal in June 2014. This abstract tells the story of that article and its 16 authors, who called themselves the ‘Evidence-Based Medicine [EBM] Renaissance Group’. Many of us who have been in the EBM movement since its early days feel mixed emotions. We are excited by EBM ’s achievements – but at the same time disillusioned at its failings and unintended consequences. For some time now, we have felt that the EBM movement needs to stop and think: where has it come from; what has it achieved; and how does it need to change to shape up for the future?